Chapter 11
THE MOON SHONE BRIGHT, though it was only three quarters full. Lots of stars in the sky. They lit up the yard. Like Auntie Anna and Uncle Clem's yard, it had only a fence on either side. At the back, it opened up to a field. Not a farmer's field. Not a working field. It was fallow, at best. More of a briar patch with low-growing bushes. The only trees were off at quite a distance.
When Briony opened the back door, I jumped. My nerves were shot already, and we hadn't even started. She had put on her jacket, and she handed me Margo's sweater, which I put on gladly. It didn't warm me up. I felt a kind of cold around me that was more than skin deep. I felt it deep in my bones. The cold was an inexorable part of me now.
Once I'd buttoned up Margo's sweater, I crouch
